Not A Burden
by BloodthirstyMajesty
Summary: Life was never nice. Far from it. Torturous. But then there were two souls that made his life bearable. He thought that they would be with him forever. He could even call them friends without doubting them or the meaning of the word. Yet all good things come to an end, as the world works. Why must they fight? He didn't know. But what he did know, was that he would never belong.
1. Prologue

Why did I have to exist? Why? Why was I born? Why?

Ever since I was a child, I was told I wasn't wanted. That I was a mistake. That I was the result of something that never should have happened. And that made me something that never should have happened.

No matter how many times Mother and Father would tell me that I was wanted, the words of the village bullies would stick.

At a very young age, I had a warped state of mind, and broken self-esteem.

I wanted to die.

Yet I couldn't. Even though I looked human, I was still half vampire. Half sin and half purity. A clashing creature. I could still heal. And I was still scared to die. It seemed painful, and I didn't know if the world after would be any better than it was then. There may not have even been any world after, just a painful void.

Yeah, I was scared.

Years passed. Blood was shed. Mother died. Father turned against her ways, and in turn, turned against me.

My urge to die grew larger, needier.

But then, I met two unique souls. Two souls that just made everything a little bit better. Two souls that I trusted with my life, or what little remained.

But then, even they betrayed me.

And I lost all hope for a better life.

New questions flooded my head.

Why did they betray me? Why must we fight? Why does this world hate me? ...Why am I crying? I knew this would happen eventually.

But the thing was, I didn't want to know. I wanted to believe that they would stay with me forever. That they would slowly but surely drive out the demons eating away at my heart and mind.

Why must all good things come to an end? I don't know. But I wish it wasn't so. This way I could be happy. We could all be happy.

But I soon came to the conclusion, that reality wasn't like that. Reality was cruel. Reality was merciless. I didn't want to be in reality.

I wanted to die. I wasn't scared anymore.

That's why, deep in the woods, I decided to kill myself.

This way, the world would be rid of a burden.

Hi, Majesty here! I started a new story. If you read my other one, in the latest chapter I said that I'd start this and it would be an Alucard centric AlucardxTrevor fic. This short prologue starts our beloved vamp's journey to something I can't say because of spoilers. There will be another chapter later on in the week, maybe within the next three or four days. So until then, bye and enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1

They had been traveling for some time now, almost two weeks. Things were fine, as pleasant as they could be with a feuding drunk and dhampir with only a stubborn Speaker to keep them from ripping each other's throats out. It was nice. It was peaceful. There were minimal injuries throughout their journey, and that made it all the better.

But, all good things must come to an end. Alucard just didn't think it would be so soon.

They were excited to be finally close to the village after so long. All they could think about were the real beds they would be able to sleep on. That, and Trevor wanted his alcohol. It was going to be a night of celebration. Of happiness in this glooming quest.

Yet when they got to their destination, they instead found the ruins of a once alive village. Houses were in shambles, holes split the ground, blood stained the street red, and half-eaten bodies were lying around like macabre decorations.

Sypha had felt bile rise up her throat, but she swallowed it down.

Trevor had felt the strongest wave of disgust in his life as he eyed a silently screaming dead child. Much like Sypha, he couldn't understand how someone could do this, let alone for many centuries.

Alucard just looked past the bodies, knowing that there was someone watching them from the shadows. Friend or foe, Alucard could not say, yet he did not sense any hostility towards him and his teammates. But you could never be sure until the blade was drawn.

Knowing that his...friends [the word still felt strange on his tongue] were off in their own world of trying to make sense of this chaos, he walked ahead, not telling them where he was going, knowing that he would be back in a matter of seconds. They wouldn't know that he was gone.

His high boots hardly made any sound on the bloody, cobblestone streets as he walked toward his goal, which was behind the ruined wall of an even more ruined house.

Looking back on it, it was an unwise dicision on his part. He should have at least told them he was going, or maybe had not gone at all.

His lips parted in a look of surprise as his amber eyes fell on a young girl, soaked in blood and caked in dirt. Her hair was matted and black, soot stained her cheeks, thin limbs curled into her body, ratty clothes held her frame. All what you would expect from an poor, orphaned girl that just survived a slaughter. Yet there was one thing that threw the dhampir off. And that was her eyes.

They were a dull red, like the color of bricks, and slitted like a cat's. A wild fire burned behind them.

Honing his senses, Alucard searched for more things to add to his suspicion. And everything stacked against his favors.

Cold blood, no heartbeat, red, cat eyes, sharp nails...Fangs.

There was no denying it. This was a young, vampire girl.

Alucard had just stood still for a moment, unsure of how he should go about this. Should he kill her? No. She was most likely an innocent bystander in this. Should he pretend that he never saw her? No. The guilt would tear his mind apart. Should he take her with them? No. Trevor and Sypha would most likely be angry at him. Should he take her with them, but hide her from the hunter and Speaker? That was the only choice he had. There was no way around it.

Having made up his mind, Alucard had leaned down to the young girl, who looked at him with defiant, fear filled eyes.

He held out his hand, as both a greeting and to show her he meant no harm.

"My lady, are you alright?"

The dhampir allowed his fangs to show as he spoke, so that the girl could see that he, too, was of vampire blood.

She had seemed to relax a bit and as she took Alucard's semi-warm hand, she spoke in a voice only audible to them.

"You are a vampire, as well..."

"Yes. Now, let us go."

"Where are we going?" The young girl asked.

"To the forest. My friends will not be very happy with me bringing back a vampire. One is a hunter, you see," came Alucard's smooth reply.

"Oh."

"You will stay hidden in the forest until I can come get you without running the risk of my friends finding you, and thinking me a traitor."

"Okay." A moment of silence.

"You're friends sound mean, Mister."

A small quirk of his lips had betrayed the small amount of amusement he felt at the heroic Trevor and kind Sypha being called mean.

"No, they are not. They are just cautious and protective. They really are nice people."

"And mortal," the little girl replied. "They must not want to die and are taking steps to unsure them that they will live."

That struck a chord within the dhampir. They would die. Die well before him. Why? Why did-

No. You will not think of such things right now when you have company.

"Don't forget, young one, that we, too, die one day."

"I know."

Alucard had taken the girl, now known as Celia, to the thick brunch of trees called a forest, where he stuck her in a tall tree and told her to wait til he came back at dusk, leaving her with a dead squirrel to keep her fed.

Besides for a few worried questions of his whereabouts that were answered with a few easy lies, and a slight scolding to never go anywhere without one of them knowing, Trevor and Sypha were none the wiser. Night fell and the two humans fell alseep along with it.

Soon enough, Alucard had journeyed back through the forest and found the tree where he placed Celia. Yet he could not find her. A dull panic started to set in. What happened to her? Was she all right? Alucard had no way of knowing.

He was just about to turn to head deeper into the forest when he heard a familiar shriek coming from back at camp.

It was Sypha.

"Oh, no..."

Hello! This took a bit longer to make. I know this sounds stupid, but I had only a vague idea of where this would go, getting the idea in the middle of watching the Disney movie Coco. So it took a full night of dream planning and a few hours of Castlevania music to get the idea of how this story was going to start. This first chapter is set in the past. Roughly half an hour after this chapter. Celia will not show up more later on in this story, given that I am not a fan of OCs. She is just here to help the story start rolling. And that is what will start happening in the next chapter. So stay tuned!

-Majesty


	3. Chapter 2

He ran back as fast as he could, dread gathering in the pit of his stomach at what he would find.

Was it wolves? Some stray demons? Some vampires? Or...Celia...?

Alucard felt sick the more he thought about it. At one point he thought he would faint. Soon after he began to wish he had. For at camp he saw Trevor, the trusty Belmont, pinned to the ground with his short sword piercing his shoulder. By the looks of his other arm, it was popped out of its socket.

Sypha had a nasty gash on her arm, but was attacking the flurry with her fire. Sweat dripped from her brow, but before she could catch her breath, she was knocked back by a strong hand. There she had laid against a tree while Alucard, who was just standing there at this time, got a good look at the flurry attacking his comrades, his friends.

It was Celia.

In some ways, Alucard knew. But he didn't want to know. Just like everything else, he wanted to believe that everything was okay. If he didn't, there was nothing to keep him from breaking down. So when he saw Celia there, he didn't know what to say that wasn't flat out denial. Thankfully for him, Celia knew what to say. Unfortunately for him, they were not the words he wanted to hear. Far from it.

"Oh. It's you. I was planning on killing you with your little friends here, but since you were so kind to me, I'll let you live." Her lips were curved in a psychotic, yet almost gentle grin. It sent shudders up Alucard's spine as his mouth became to dry to speak.

A lump was stuck in his throat and he swallowed it down, saying with a surprisingly level voice, "Why are you doing this?"

Celia giggled. "You can't be that dense. I killed this village. It's empty because of me." Alucard felt sick.

She started to pace, and the dhampir could feel Trevor's eyes boring into him, trying to make him explain why he knew this vampire that was trying to kill them.

"You see, I do not follow your father. Dracula is not my lord. I have my own sire."

Alucard had thought so. No one of Dracula's court would ever dare raise a hand against their lord's kin. Their young master. But that didn't answer the question of who. There were very few other vampire lords in the area, most were already either in alliance with Dracula, or were too scared of him to revolt or wage war.

Alucard figured he wouldn't get an answer, but he asked anyway.

"Who?"

A quick glance at Trevor showed that after this was done and over with, he'd kill him. And for once, the Belmont was serious.

"I doubt that you would know him," Celia said with a flourish of her hand. "For he has long since been forgotten by history. Dracula doesn't even remember his existence. And if he doesn't remember, than there was nobody to tell you. So I find it rather useless for me to tell you his name." Celia gave a blood-chilling smile.

"It will make a nice challenge for you, princeling."

Alucard was done being patient. If he wasn't going to get answers, than he would at least make up for all this by killing her.

"I'm done playing nice if you refuse to give me answers." A twitch of the dhampir's finger sent his blade flying from his sheath that lay a few feet away and into his waiting hand. "Let us fight."

A look of surprise mixed with amusement colored her face. "Oh? And after I was so nicely going to let you live, you went and drew your blade."

Her face started distorting, starting with the jaw widening, then her teeth sharpening, her eyes sinking into her skull. Her limbs began to elongating, stretching the skin almost transperant over the bones. Her skin turned a sickly grey, with boils appearing on her back. Her eyes were totally black, no pupil in sight and the whites turning into the polar opposite color.

It was terrifying.

Alucard had to focus to keep a straight face, even though he felt his fear well up inside him. Why he was so scared, he could not say. Maybe it was because of the fact that this form just made him look worse in the eyes of his friends. Or...friend, considering one was barely conscious. That didn't make him feel any better.

"If you still won't run, then as you said, let's fight."

The monster who disguised herself as Celia wasted no time in rushing at the dhampir. Her claws were her weapon, drawing sparks as they clashed against Alucard's sword.

Her strength was showed as she pushed him back a few inches. Alucard knew that if he stubbornly refused to back down from this stalemate, he would eventually be pushed over, and most likely, have his throat slit immediatly.

With a push of his feet, Alucard jumped back, away from the claws that could cut his head off.

Celia was expecting that, however, and she appeared behind him just as he landed, taking a swipe at his head. He ducked just in time, breathing heavily, as the clawed hand flew overhead.

Even her voice was distorted as she said, "You're fast, I'll give you that. But you are young, fangling. If you were a normal vampire, you would still be too young to go to war. You'd be stuck in the training rooms or the royal tutor's studies. I have experience. And that is why you're going to die!"

Alucard forced himself to loosen his posture, and take a deep breath, bracing himself for the hits to come.

"Stupid little dhampir!" A claw snatched the front of his tunic, tearing through a small line of flesh, making a red line amongst pale skin.

Here. Her second of vunerabilty.

After Celia struck, she needed to regain her balance, leaving behind one or two crucial seconds that you could strike. And Alucard knew that to make the most of this time slot, he would need to get hit, at least a little. He may be young but...

"You forgot..." A leap atop the enemy's head, wrapping his legs around the creature's neck. "That I..." A twist of slender fingers and strong hands, snapping a neck into peices. As the grusome beast fell to the ground, the dhampir switched his position to that on it's chest. "Am the son of Dracula." The gleeming, silver sword was plunged into what was once Celia's breast, piercing her heart.

A small wince of pain showed on Alucard's face as Celia let out a screech that shattered his bones as she turned to ash.

And while this was happening, he could sense that Sypha had joined Trevor and was helping him get his sword out of his shoulder.

But as soon as the threat was gone, Alucard felt the weight of a new threat settle in his stomach. The threat of his comrades. Of the inevitable scolding and telling off that he would recieve. Dread was the only emotion he knew at that time. Dread and guilt.

As soon as Trevor was freed, he lept to his feet with clearly shown rage. But he held it back, just in case this was a misunderstanding.

"Did you try to save that monster?" Venom was barely hidden beneath a thin mask of calmness.

Alucard ducked his head. Shame and fear paling his features.

"Yes..."

"Why?" Alucard could hear the strain in his voice, and a small glance up showed that even Sypha was glaring at him.

"I didn't think that she was dangerous-"

"Bullshit!" The dhampir flinched at the loudness in his voice.

"You were trying to kill us, weren't you?!"

"No...I-"

"Shut the hell up, Alucard! Why else would you help that monster if not to kill us?"

"I-I was just..."

Alucard's eyes were stinging. Tears blurring the corners of his vision. His voice was wobbling but neither Trevor nor Sypha seemed to notice, and if they did, they didn't care.

"I'm disappointed in you, Alucard," Sypha spoke, soft in contrast to Trevor's yelling. But her voice was firm and cold. She was angry, too.

"What were you trying to do, Alucard? You couldn't have not realized that that thing was a monster when you saw it. Just what were you planning?"

"I w-wasn't planning anything..."

He couldn't breathe. His chest was too tight, his heart was pounding. Alucard took in a shuddering breath in an attempt to remain conscious and to keep his tears from escaping. He would not cry.

"You bastard! I knew I never should have trust you. All your kind do is lie and seduce and trap. We never should have taken you with us."

Alucard's fist gripped the fabric of his dirty coat, feeling more tears gather as his heart ached.

It burned. He hated it. This feeling. Why must he feel it? His skull was throbbing, and it felt like paper was jammed down his throat. Even Sypha was mad at him.

 _ **You're such a disappointment, the little voice in his head said, smuggness ever present. Even your 'friends' don't want you anymore? Gonna run home to Daddy? Oh, that's right. He doesn't want you either. The only one who loved you was your mother. And she's dead. So...What are you gonna do? Young Master Disappointment?**_

 _No. Shut up. I-I'm still their friend. And Father does love me, he's just not sane right now. So shut up. You don't know anything._

"Trevor," Alucard was brought back to reality with Sypha's warning tone. "You're going a bit far."

Trevor barked out a humuorless laugh. "Ha! You should tell that to him! He tried to kill us! And he couldn't even do it himself."

Alucard's nails ripped through his coat, drawing blood from his palms. Yet it didn't calm him down. The pain was just fuel for the fire of meloncholy in his gut.

"Belm-" Alucard started.

"Shut up, _vampire_! You don't get the right to talk!"

With that one word, all hope that he could be forgiven was lost.

Alucard couldn't understand why, but he felt as though he lost all the trust he had earned.

It reminded him as a child, being bullied by the village kids. But back then, he always had his mother and father to confort him. Now, he was being yelled at by his best friends-only friends-as they hunted down his insane father who was trying to avenge his dead wife. His life was absolute Hell.

 _Of course. I was wondering when that word would appear. Trevor must hate me now. Sypha said that he went a bit far, yet she still takes his side. Must be that she'd rather be with him than a monster._

 _ **Yes. You are a monster. Now, why don't you kill them? Show them what the monster can do? Make them regret ever making you sad.**_

 _No. I will not._

 _ **Oh, boo.**_

The voice went silent. But all that accomplished was sending the guilt into every corner of his mind.

Alucard's voice was a whisper as he spoke, "I'm sorry..."

"Tsk." Trevor's face was disgusted. "Get out of my sight, vampire. And never let me see your face around us again."

"Trev-"

"Okay." Alucard couldn't stop the tears now, and they flowed freely down his face, eyes hidden behind his hair.

A solemn smile filled with regret pulled at his tear-soaked lips.

"Then, I hope you have fun without me, and luck be with you on your journey..."

Alucard took less than graceful steps backwards, going back into the forest he came from, when his regret started.

He was just about to turn around when Sypha spoke. "Alucard, wait...!"

"Let him go, Sypha. He's no use for us anymore."

With that sentence, the dhampir ran into the forest, letting his smile fall and soft sobs escape him.

 _Why can't I do anything right?_

 _ **Because you're a monster.**_

Alucard eventually stopped running, having got to a stream. Running water.

 _Should I drown myself? Kill myself from the running water?_

He contemplated it.

 _No. Too painful. Too long to wait. I just want to be dead._

 _ **Why don't you stake yourself? That would be a quick death. Only painful for a second. Then you'll be out of everyone's hair. Not a burden anymore. Doesn't that sound nice?**_

"Yes..."

With already dead eyes locked onto the stream, a shaky hand gripped a small dagger that was hidden in his coat's inner pocket. It was a gift from Trevor, in case he lost his sword somewhere. At the time, the thought of ever loosing his sword was idiotic. Yet at this moment, Alucard was thankful to kill himself with something of meaning. It had become his treasure. To show he was wanted. But at this point, he couldn't say he was wanted anymore.

So it would be better just to rid the world of him once and for all. Maybe death would want him.

Trembling hands gripped the dagger and aligned it to his heart. The voice in his head whispering sweet coaxes. Encouraging him to die.

He finally shut his eyes, fireworks bursting behind his eyelids at the pressure as the point of the blade poked his chest.

As he drew his arms and the dagger back, he couldn't help but say his final words. Call him cliche' but he didn't want his last words being that fight.

His arms snapped forwards.

"Goodbye, my friends..."

Hi! Long time no update. I was working especially hard on this chapter, making it as long as I could in a short time span of my brother, grandma, and mom wanting to know what I'm doing 24/7. Hope you enjoy. Sorry for the cliff hanger, yet I'm not sorry. And for those of you who might be confused, in Symphony of the Night and in the Netflix anime, vampires are effected by running water. As Carmilla puts it in the anime, it's like poison, you don't feel like it'll kill you, but it will. So running water is lethal to vampires. Just a little fun fact. See you next time!

Majesty


	4. Chapter 3

"Trevor!"

The anger and hurt that Trevor had felt was dying down, and now that his mind was clear, he knew he went too far. Alucard was crying, for god's sake! Regret slowly seeped through the cracks of his mind.

"You went too far!"

Now Sypha was angry at him.

"Don't you think I know that?!" The Belmont snapped.

"Then why did you say those things?" Her voice broke. In a whisper, she continued, "You really hurt him..."

"I was angry," was his response. "Still am, just not as much. He still betrayed us, and it hurt." His eyes were on his filthy boots. "I didn't think he would ever do that to us."

"Maybe he didn't do it on purpose!" Sypha was quick to defend.

Trevor's head snapped up. "Are you kidding me?! How do you help a MONSTER on accident? That thing was insane!"

"You're right. But then, what if it didn't look like that when Alucard found it? It must've sensed him and preyed on the fact that he would help."

The Belmont didn't want to think about it. Because if he thought about it, he would start feeling worse, knowing that Sypha had a point. Knowing that he had just chased off one of his friends. Knowing that he made him cry. It hurt Trevor just thinking about it.

His heart felt heavy as Sypha went on.

"Think," I don't want to... "It looked like a child at first, right?" Stop it... "Maybe it disguised itself as an orphan of one of the dead families. Knowing that Alucard would protect an orphaned vampire child who was starving on the streets after a massacre."

"Then why didn't he tell us?" Trevor ground out.

The Speaker's eyes were downcast, sadness etched clearly into her face.

"Maybe...he didn't want us to be mad and take it away to kill it, not knowing what it was."

Trevor's rage had passed by this point, now only feeling overwhelming regret and guilt.

"I really went too far, didn't I...?"

"You did."

"Would he ever forgive me?"

"I bet he's thinking the exact same thing."

A sad, determined smile tugged his lips.

"That means I have a chance to get him back."

Sypha matched his smile. "I'm glad you came to that conclusion yourself. Now," she took a step to the forest. His tone and face were firm as she beckoned him along. "Let's go get our friend back!"

"Yeah!"

Trevor learned something new. Besides the fact that he should be more considerate.

He hated forests.

They were swarming with bugs, tree roots kept trying to trip him, mosquitos kept biting his arms, it was dark and damp, and he had no idea where he was going.

Now, you'd think, why can't he figure out where he was going? Didn't he live on his own for years traveling? Shouldn't he know where to go?

Nope. Most times Trevor went through forests, he was drunk, so he didn't care where he ended up and just walked right through. But this time was different. He was searching for somebody. His friend to be exact. The friend he had just yelled, insulted, and accused and made cry.

So he felt like a real ass, and that took away what little direction powers he had and turned him into a guilt-ridden, tripping, swearing mess.

Sypha thought they had heard running water, most likely a streak a while back. Ten minutes later, they were still walking towards it. Trevor didn't think that Sypha knew where to go any more than he did. Which was frightning in all honesty. They could get lost in this forest for life at this rate!

But...there. Straight and a bit to the right... Running water. Trevor could hear it. Finally, they could either take a break after finding Alucard not there, or find him and not have to worry any more, clearing everything up right then and there.

"See?! Told you I wasn't crazy!" Sypha exclaimed. "You can hear the water now, right?"

"Yeah..."

A fresh wave of hope filled there veins as they ran through the last stretches of bushes and trees. Only to have that hope shattered when they finally got there.

Alucard was there alright. But...he wasn't there...

The first thing they saw was crimson; such a beautiful red that shouldn't be used in such a terrifying way. It stretched over the green blades of grass in perfect dew drop splatters. The dirt had now turned into mud, darker than it should be and rotten with the smell of death. It tinted the water pink, slowly deepening into a more vibrant color. The moon was directly above them, giving the already morbidly stunning color a more haunting glow. It stained smooth gold, and tainted pure black. A flower of the color bloomed on a pale surface, with silver highlighting it like a cross.

Neither could breathe. It hurt their hearts to even look at this and continue to function as normal. The sight of Trevor's dagger was like a punch to the gut. Or in this case, a stab in the heart.

The sight of blood soaked gold hair framing a tear-streaked face was enough to send Sypha to her knees in a fit of her own tears.

Even the animals and insects were quite, seeming to mourn as well.

It hurt...it hurt so bad...

Trevor dropped to his knees, still with a look of disbelief on his face as he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight. From his friend. From the corpse. From the dagger.

"No..." he whispered as Sypha's sobs echoed in his ears. "No...this can't be...this can't be true!"

It hurt even more once the thought came to mind:

It was his fault.

It was Trevor's fault. He had turned against his friend and comrade without letting him explain. He should have stopped. He should have talked resonably. He should've realized that something was wrong when he started crying. Alucard never cried. Not from the worst battle injuries, not from having to do things he didn't want. And certainly not from his friends scolding him.

 _No. He cried because we made him think that we hated him. That he shouldn't be alive. That he had made one too many mistakes...And it was my fault._

Trevor wanted to cry. Could feel it building up in his chest. Yet his body didn't let him.

By now Sypha had folded herself against the ground, hugging herself, sobbing freely.

Trevor couldn't do that. Something kept nagging at him. Telling him that he was missing something. Something important. He couldn't figure it out.

Until he looked at the body.

 _The body...It's still there. It's not dust yet!_

Something akin to hope serged up in his chest, pushing aside the sorrow and guilt for the time being to shake Sypha out of her sobbing fit and stagger towards the bloody body of his friend.

"He must've missed..." he murmured.

"Why *hic* do you think *hic* that?" Sypha blubbered out. She was drying her tears as she went and joined Trevor at the body.

"The body's not dust yet." A surprising firmness was in his voice and Sypha seemed to just notice that as he mentioned it. The tears stopped so suddenly, Trevor thought they might have evaporated.

"Then let's save him!"

"Agreed."

Hi! Sorry for the depressing chapters, but you read the last one, so you must know by now what you're getting into. This chapter surprisingly went fluidly into actual words. It didn't take as long as it usually did, or if it did, time passed quickly. I wasn't really sure where to go from the end of the last chapter, but my hands started writing and this was the finished result. I felt as though I did good on getting the emotion there, and that might be because I'm currently listening to sad anime music on youtube, but that's irrelevant [or is it?]. But whatever. At the end of the day, I made a chapter and I'm proud of it. Enjoy, and if you have any criticism feel free to share! I'll try to update this quick, but no promises. For readers of Stairway of Sorrow might know, I'm working on an extra long chapter of that to make up for the wait. I might do that with this but I doubt it. Anyway, I'm rambling. Hope you enjoyed and see you next time!

Majesty~


	5. Chapter 4

Dracula's castle was damp. Dark. Foreboding. A place where no light shall ever dare to enter. Home to the king of vampires himself. The place where a war was being planned. A place where betrayal hid itself in the walls. A place that didn't feel like home anymore.

Dracula sat, watching the fire, wondering if he should get up. He wouldn't have had it not been for the one thing he had been too busy to do today.

Check up on his son.

Nobody knew, but Dracula missed his boy. He was still his child after all. It was just, that whenever he saw him, Dracula just got angry. Adrian looked so much like his mother...it hurt too much. It was infuriating. They were father and son! They shouldn't be doing this! Not fighting a war. They should be relaxing; reading in the catle library, sparring with each other instead of fighting to the death, spending more time together.

Dracula began to miss when Adrian was but a boy.

He always had a smile on his face, his hair was beautifully curly, he loved his father, and...Lisa was still with them.

With a clatter, Dracula stood up from his giant velvet seat.

His cloak brushed against the marble floors as his shoe heels clicked sharply against the same material. The hallways were long, and dark, and lonely. Every sound echoed eerily in the fancy, decorated, equally disturbing corridors.

Doors lined the walls, dotted here and there with ten or so feet between them all. But Dracula didn't glance at one.

He continued down the stone steps, going deeper and deeper, until he got to the study. The study where the enchanted mirror was.

His sharp nails-more like claws at this point-scratched the spell on the glass as naturally as breathing, with the marks fading as quickly as they appeared.

Dracula held his breath as his arms fell to his side; the mirror beginning to do its job.

The other side of the mirror appeared behind large clumps of foliage, and the vampire king could sense that something was wrong as soon as the image cleared.

The animals were quiet. Yet there was a sound. A sound that seemed so familiar, yet so distant. It seemed animalistic, yet it was not quite that. High-pitched, hiccuping, bubbly sounds that should not come from any sort of human or vampire.

As Dracula peered past the fora and fauna obscuring his line of sight, he finally understood what that sound was.

It was crying.

A human woman was crying, kneeling in the dirt with sobs escaping from her lips.

Dracula could see a splotch of red at the corner of his vision, yet he did not dare look, for fear of what was. Instead, he looked at the man kneeling beside the woman, looking utterly shocked, yet brokenly hollow. Almost as if nothing existed in him but saddness, guilt, and the most unpleasant kind of shock.

It was then that Dracula realized that these were the other two. The two who were journeying to his very castle. The two who traveled with his son...

And just like that, his eyes darted over to the red blotch on his vision. Those same eyes then widened, and watered, and just like that, Dracula, the mighty vampire king, the Prince of Darkness, was on his knees, crying, gripping the sides of the mirror so tight his knuckles turned an even paler shade of white.

Because there, on the grass stained in the lovely crimson that Dracula had seen too much of, was Adrian; his son.

A silver dagger peirced the boy's chest and was the source for which the blood flowed from.

Dracula couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. All he could do was stare. Stare at the body of his baby.

He didn't want to fight anymore. If this is what the result was...then Dracula'd rather die than continue this war.

He had lost too many. Adrian was the last straw.

His body may still be alive, but his soul had it's last piece broken.

Through shuddering breath, Dracula managed, "Who...who did this to my son?"

"I think you know the answer, Dracula."

That familiar voice sent shivers down his spine as he quickly stopped the spell on the mirror, keeping his son far away from this monster in his castle.

"Celia...What are you doing here?"

Whooo! We get some Dracula POV now! What's gonna happen? How does Dracula know Celia? I don't know either, so it might be a while before we find out those things. But the story's progressing! So I'm happy. This was kinda short, but a good major plot point. I'm working on that long chapter for Stairway right now, so you can expect that up in around a week or so. I hoped you enjoyed and I'll make another chapter for this around the time that Stairway's new chapter goes up. Have a good day/night and I'll see you next time!

Bye-bye

Majesty~


	6. Chapter 5

"Now, that's no way to treat your guest, Dracula."

Her voice, coming from such a small body, carried easily across the large room. It was the voice of a ruler, or a right hand man.

"I can treat you however I want after what you did," Dracula growled out, unconsciously taking a defensive position in front of the mirror, even though he had deactivated it.

The only things that were on his mind at this moment were: _I must protect my son and I must kill this monster who dares to hurt him._

Nothing else mattered at that point in time. The castle could fall, his subjects be murdered, he, himself, taken into slavery to him, and nothing would make him stray from his stubborn mindset. The only thing that'd make him stop would be Adrian. His boy. If his boy stood in front of him and told him to toss aside his ideals and thoughts, he would do it in a heartbeat.

But his son wasn't here. He was miles away, bleeding on a dirty riverbank, with only that woman Speaker and that vulgar Belmont to keep him alive long enough for Dracula to kill this monster in front of him and get to his son.

With a plan firmly made in mind, Dracula began his interrogation.

"Did you hurt my son?"

"Only a little, but not the injuries your talking about," A small smirk appeared on Celia's face. Anyone could tell that she was deeply pleased with herself. "I did not inflict those."

"Then who did?" Another inhuman growl.

"As I said prior, I think you already know the answer to that."

Dracula had an idea, but he did not wish to believe it, or even think upon it.

"Just spit it out already."

"Fine, fine." The smirk widened until it looked almost insane. "Why he brought this pain upon himself, of course."

Yet another feral growl, but this one was more hesitant. More fearful.

"You're lying!"

"But I'm not," her voice sounded amused, and it just made Dracula even more furious.

"Don't tell me..." She gasped dramatically. "That you never knew about this?"

The vampire king was scared to ask. He would not lie to himself. He was scared. Scared of what his son kept from him. Scared from what he would learn. Scared because they might never return to normal.

"Knew about what...?"

A high pitched chuckle, almost something akin to a giggle, erupted from her mouth.

"He never told you! I can barely believe it!"

"Never told me what?! Tell me!"

"Fine. That he was suicidal." She gave a little pout. "You're no fun."

"...What...?"

Dracula couldn't believe what he was hearing. His son? Suicidal? No! He may not've been happy all of the time, but he certainly wasn't depressed!

"You heard me, Dracula." Celia picked at her nails. "Your son is a self-depreciating, submissive, depressing, husk of the happy child he once was."

Dracula needed to change the topic. He could feel himself tipping over the edge.

"So what?" Celia looked confused. "I'm guessing you didn't come here just to tell me this, did you?"

"Sharp old man."

A freshly picked nailed finger came to rest upon her lower lip as she looked up at him with an unreadable emotion in her eyes.

"That's right. I didn't come here to tell you about your darling child's suicide. No, I came to tell you that my master is watching you." Her ever present smirk faded. "Waiting for a time when you mess up. For when he can strike you at your weakest."

His ebbing anger returned full-force.

"Then tell him," he growled, even more hostile than before. "That he can try, but I will still rip his throat out with my fangs."

"I can see that if I stay any longer, this'll turn into a fight. So..."

She turned with a flourish, her torn, black traveler's cloak bellowing out behind her.

"Toodles!"

And just like that, on that ridiculous note, Celia, the demon, was gone.

"The hell does 'toodles' mean?"

Dracula shook his head.

 _No. That's not my goal right now. I need to get to my son..._

Activating the mirror once again with practiced fingers, his thoughts were filled to the brim of his son.

Was he okay? Could he get to him in time? Could he convince those two pesky humans to give him over? Should he take him? Should he kill them?

Nothing stopped the questions.

Dracula never liked the feel of worry. It burned the pit of his stomach and creased his brows until he had a headache. Along with the thought of whatever the problem was stressing him out, nothing could go good when he was worried.

Once more, the mirror overlooked the sight of his bloody son, and his companions. The moon creating eerie shadows across Adrian's face and turning his hair into liquid silver blotched with rubies.

Beautiful...

But Dracula didn't want beautiful. He wanted safe.

And so he stepped through, his wandering mind finally focusing on it's main task.

 _Get Adrian back home safely..._

Ugh...I'm so ashamed...it took THIS long to write THIS short of a chapter. I've been in a real slump for writing. I'm just not been motivated. Luckily, I finished this chapter, so at least you guy's get something. Stairway is really fighting me, though, so you can expect that one not to have an update for at least another week and a half. Again, sorry about the wait, and for those of you on AO3, I'll post the next chapters of both my stories there right after this. I have no excuse for that on, besides my internet hates me. I've just been lazy...But anyway hope you enjoyed [even though it's disgustingly short] and I'll see you guys next time!

Bye bye

Majesty


	7. Chapter 6

Trevor had just barely gotten to the body of Alucard when the soft sound of crunching leaves leaked into his ears. Blood rushed to his throbbing heart as his hand came to rest upon the pommel of his whip at his hip. There was always the chance that it could just be a small nocturnal creature instead of another deadly vampire or demon coming to kill them.

All hope and then some of it just being a rabbit went down the drain, as did all of the color in both Trevor and Sypha's faces as the one person they never wanted to see without Alucard appeared before them.

Trevor felt his chest constrict tightly, as if a poisonous snake had wrapped itself around his lungs.

 _Dracula..._ Dracula was right there, before them, emerging from the dark, shadow coated shrubbery. And yet, even through the immense terror that Trevor would not admit to feeling later on, the vampire hunter couldn't help but feel as though something was amiss with this new threat. Almost as if...he wasn't even a threat at all.

 _No. That's stupid. This is Dracula we're talking about here, Trevor. Of course he's a threat._ An even worse thought invaded his brain immediately. _Maybe he saw that Alucard was weakened and came to finish him off..._

Trevor shook his head.

 _Shut up, brain. Stop being rational._

Sypha didn't seem to be fairing any better than him, as she trembled softly in her place by his side, which got worse the closer Dracula stepped towards them; towards Alucard.

Trevor let a wolfish growl out from his throat and past his lips, and to his surprise, the vampire king stopped in his tracks, his cape bunching up again in a small pile at his heels.

It was then, with most of the distance cleared away, that Trevor could place one of the details that was bothering him. Tiny red trails, similar in color to the marks staining Alucard's hair and shirt, tainting the crisp whiteness of the fancy cravat tied around Dracula's neck.

 _Blood...wait, don't vampires cry blood? And from what I remember, the color's always been a bit off. Not to mention his eyes are slightly bloodshot...He was crying._

If the situation had been any less urgent and stressful, Trevor was sure that he would be smirking.

 _Seems as though the mighty Prince of Darkness has a heart, after all._

Any and all amusement vanished without a trace when those lips parted to reveal words coated in a tone as sharp as the fangs glinting in the moonlight.

"Give me my son, you vagabonds."

A scowl made itself a home on the Belmont's face, but before he could give Dracula a piece of his mind, Sypha had beaten him to it.

"Shut up, Dracula! How're we supposed to know you won't just up and kill him once we hand him over?! Like hell we're giving him to you of all people!"

Trevor's scowl turned into a grin as he praised his comrade.

"Nice, Sypha! Give him what for!"

It was Dracula's turn to scowl as the Speaker placed her hands upon her hips and the vampire hunter snickered without concern of being heard.

"Why would I kill him? He is my son. Why would I deprive myself of my heir? That would be a stupid move on any rulers' part," the vampire king spoke through gritted teeth. "Most of all, a ruler such as I."

He was just starting to sound haughty now, to both Trevor and Sypha, and they could feel a bit of their fear start to ebb away.

Unfortunately for them, Dracula took another step forward, seemingly keen on getting his hands on the unconscious Alucard. And unfortunately for him, the friends of said unconscious dhampir were equally as keen on keeping those clawed hands away from him.

"Not," Trevor growled. "another step forward. Or I will stake your undead ass."

But yet again, unfortunately for them, Dracula seemed to have run out of patience for this unhappy banter going back and forth between them.

"Just give me my son...!"

Within the blink of an eye, Dracula was no longer in front of them, many paces away, but instead behind them, carrying an alarming sense of malice and hostility.

Trevor had gripped his whip and had begun to pull while Sypha raised her hands to cast, but they were both far too late and far too slow. For within a heartbeat, within the time long enough to allow just one flap of the butterfly's wings that was fluttering across the sky in front of the moon, both hunter and Speaker were on the ground, unconscious, unable to intervene with the supposed 'kidnapping' of their dear friend as Dracula vanished back to whence he came with the ruby stained Alucard in his arms.

Nothing would _ever_ stand between him and his son.

 _Nothing..._

Whoop~! Whoop~! Another chapter's up! For both Burden and Stairway...? _Gasp!_ Such a rarity! Haha, but jokes aside, sorry for not updating, people who for some reason keep reading this even though my updates a disgustingly random at best. As I said in my Stairway author's note, I just got over a big case of writer's block, and haven't been writing for weeks. But now I am! And I can assure you, that the next chapter will come out pretty soon. It will not take a month. I repeat, _it will not take a month._ I'm already writing chapter seven, so...in around a week, maybe two, you should see a new chapter out for this. Hopefully followed by a Stairway chapter. But, anyway, hope you enjoyed, feel free to give critique and/or random thoughts in a review, or a PM, and I will see you all next time~!

Bye-bye~

Majesty


	8. Chapter 7

Dracula's face was calm, cool, composed. The same could not be said of the state of his mind. His consciousness was panicking, worried, angry, stressed; every negative emotion he had driven out of himself in order to survive, and make his family survive. Yet with Adrian unconscious, on the brink of death in his arms, all those banished emotions came back in a painful stab to the brain, and to the heart.

 _I need to get him healed immediately. The fairies should be quick enough to arrive at my chambers within the next few minutes. Until then, I just need to stop the blood._

The sharp clicking of his heeled boots startled the few creatures within the palace this close to his chambers to the sides of the corridors.

Blood dripped off Adrian's fingers to the stone floors below, leaving it to be swept up by the thick, inky blackness of Dracula's cape.

 _Everything will be fine...everything will be fine..._

The Prince of Darkness kept repeating this line like a prayer even as he got to the large double doors of his chambers, untouched in more than a year. He repeated it even as the doors creaked their hellos and even when the bed sank under his son's weight. He kept repeating it.

 _Everything will be fine...everything will be fine...he'll be fine..._

The fairies entered soon after their master, and quickly went about the process of healing Adrian, their prince. They didn't ask what had happened as Dracula settled stiffly into a chair to observe. And the vampire was grateful for that. He didn't want to talk. He just wanted some silence, knowing that Adrian was going to be okay.

Trevor was shocked. And angry. Oh, he was so angry. Angry at Dracula, for taking his comrade. Angry at Alucard for trying to kill himself. Angry at Celia for starting all this. And most of all, angry at himself. He stood by, and did nothing until it was too late, until Dracula had already gotten too close. Even when Trevor knew what the vampire wanted, he still did nothing but stand there, as if just staring at the man would drive him away with his tail between his legs.

 _I'm such a fucking idiot..._ Trevor growled in his mind. _I couldn't even protect my friend when he needed me the most._

He had been up for a decent amount of time now, waiting for Sypha to get up as well so they could go and find that bastard Dracula and beat the shit out of him. It was getting to the point where Trevor was seriously debating kicking the Speaker in the gut to wake her up. It had been twenty minutes too long for her to be sleeping. But the Belmont refrained himself. It would not do to have an injured party when trying to kill the king of vampires when their friend's life was on the line.

 _Five more minutes..._ He decided. _Five more minutes and then she gets kicked._

Trevor started to tap his foot impatiently on the soft, grass covered earth.

What was Dracula doing now? Torturing Alucard? Was Alucard even awake? Even alive? Did Dracula even care?

Trevor's mind went back to what the vampire said before he knocked them out.

 _To "give him his son"...It sounded like he really cared...But that's impossible. He's the one who tried to kill Alucard in the first place, why would he suddenly start to care about his wellbeing? Ugh, thinking is_ **_not_** _my forte..._

Five minutes seemed to pass at a snail's pace, only quickening the insistent tapping of Trevor's foot. But, finally, as the last second passed in the hunter's mind, he sprang up from his spot on the ground to stand right above Sypha. His boot came back, intent on striking the tender spot between the side and stomach, but as soon as it came within reach of the unconscious figure, a hand came out of folds of blue and grabbed the offending appendage, pushing it back with surprising force.

Trevor stumbled back onto the riverbank (thankfully a clean section), landing flat on his ass, watching as Sypha sat up and shot a glare over her shoulder.

"And what exactly were you going to do with that filthy boot of yours, Belmont?" She spat out at him.

"Kick you awake," Trevor growled back, surprise long forgotten, thoughts once again flooded with fantasies of killing Dracula in all sorts of brutal ways, with an underlining of saving Alucard.

"And why were you going to do that?"

The tension was almost thick enough to cut with a knife. A little more, and they might start to actually fight.

"Because. Alucard's been gone for probably a couple of hours now. Dracula could've used that time to go to any number of places! And we don't know where. Dracula could be torturing him right now! He could already be dead-"

"DON'T SAY THAT!"

Trevor fell silent.

The hunter felt a clenching in his gut as he watched as two shiny trails were made down Sypha's cheeks, and soft sobs broke through the barrier of her lips. He had almost forgotten what had happened earlier, and felt like an idiot after bringing up something so close to the topic so soon.

"Sorry..." The word came out in a whisper, but both knew that the other heard it. Trevor was not one to apologize much, and so, for him to admit that he was in the wrong, even with the hesitance, was such a major thing, that you didn't _dare_ to miss it.

They sat in silence. Sad, tense, silence. Trevor did not risk speaking again, in case Sypha decided to lash out again. It was best to stay silent.

And thus, Sypha was the first to do something.

The Speaker stood up from her spot on the grass and walked over to where Trevor still sat on the riverbank.

"Well, Alucard's not gonna come back to us if we just wallow in guilt and sadness." She nodded a little, seemingly more for convincing herself than him. "Now get up and let's go kick some vampire ass!"

Trevor's trademark smirk came out of hiding after seeing Sypha's bright, determined, albeit a little watery, smile.

She offered a hand to him.

"Yeah. Dracula's gonna regret messin' with us after we're done with him!"

Trevor took the hand and the Speaker helped him to his feet. And instead of wiping her hand off on the fabric of her cloak like she usually did, she just started walking, a skip in her step, back to the wagon. A small chuckle was all the sound Trevor made as he followed after his comrade.

They would get Alucard back. If they had to sell their souls to the devil, or make a journey through Hell and back, so be it. Alucard was _theirs;_ Dracula already messed his chance up. He didn't get another one. And once they got their hands on the dhampir, he would be scolded, spoiled, and not least of all, _helped._ They all needed so much help... But everything would be fine! They would make it fine! It wouldn't be normal, but it would be perfect for them.

So very perfect...

 _A shadowed figure sat atop and iron throne. Pieces of pearly white bone could be seen poking out from the iron cage that confined them. Yellow tinted skin was stretched tight over slim bird boned hands that rested upon the arms of the throne. Long black talons, not unlike that of an eagle's, tapped against the bumpy metal, creating an eerie ringing sound that echoed throughout the large, empty, stone chamber. Red eyes, tinted gold shone in dim candle light that fell across the room from a high placed chandelier on the ceiling._

 _Small, almost dainty sounding steps entered the room, joining the ringing taps in a sinister harmony._

 _Striking red hair flowed behind the figure of a small girl, looking to be around twelve or so, dull, brick colored eyes finding the sharper, brighter eyes of the shadowed figure atop the iron throne. There was silence for a few seconds before the shadowed figure broke it, speaking with a deep, and venomous voice._

 _"You changed your appearance again, my pet."_

 _"It felt stuffy in my old guise. Forgive me, milord, if it does not please you."_

 _The shadowed figure, now known as a lord, tapped another talon against the metal of his throne._

 _"It does not bother me in the slightest. You can do as you wish as long as you stay loyal to me." The young girl (if she was even either of those things) dipped her head forward in a small bow of gratitude. "But let's cut with the pleasantries." Another tap. Another ring. "How is dear Dracula doing?"_

 _A small smirk spread the girl's lips apart, bearing sharp, white teeth._

 _"On the path to destruction, milord."_

Hi~! I"m back~! Sorry for the semi-late update; I got my laptop taken away for the week. But now it's back, and I can post~! This A/N is gonna be short coz...coz. Probably because I'm sick and my mind doesn't want to think. Yeah, let's just make that the reason. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all in a few weeks~!

Bye-bye~!

Majesty


	9. Chapter 8

When the fairies had completed their task, Adrian was still asleep. But his breathing was deeper and he was clean. His hair was no longer stained with rubies.

As Dracula stood beside the bed, looking down at his son, he was reminded of just how much he looked like his mother; how beautiful he was. His eyes fell onto the angry red scar across his chest, only half visible from where it got cut off by the blanket. He marred that beauty. Damaged a priceless memory. And he could never take it back, and it would never be forgotten. Even his most talented fairies could not heal that scar. It was a permanent reminder of what he had done. Perhaps it had a factor in the cause of the wedge that drove them apart.

When would they finally be brought back together? This separation...it was just painful for Dracula. Knowing that his only son hated him. Knowing that his own actions had a role in it. Knowing that he didn't regret them as much as he should. It was all those damn humans' fault! If they had not burned his wife because of their inflated egos...if those two humans Adrian was traveling with had kept him happy...perhaps none of this would've ever happened. Maybe they'd still be a happy family. Maybe Adrian would have friends he could rely on, not just himself. Perhaps humanity would've welcomed them in. Perhaps Lisa could've helped them with their problems and teach Adrian to do the same. Perhaps...it'd just be a better world. But it wasn't. And would never be until Dracula found more humans like his late wife. Which would probably ne-

The king of vampires was in the middle of his internal monologue when the sound of crashes traveled down the hall into the room where he was. It sounded like the many lamps that decorated the corridors shattering on the marble floors. Screams were layered under it, like eerie violins under the sound of torturous singing.

When Dracula stepped outside, he was met with a sight he'd never forget. The inhabitants of the castle carved beyond recognition. Their blood painting macabre scenes on the walls. Shattered glass of the lamp covers lie on the floor, some in the corpses eyes, some in their throats, some just lying there, out of the way.

There was an enemy in the castle...and Dracula had a feeling that it was there for Adrian.

 _One hour prior_

Hector looked on as the inhabitants who were present in the castle's main foyer-mainly the vampire members of the war council-watched as Dracula carried an injured Alucard deeper into the castle. Their eyes were filled with disgust and hatred, but they didn't dare to speak their minds in front of Dracula, who'd probably rip their throats out.

Under normal circumstances, Hector would gather up Isaac (more like meet in the middle on their way to Dracula's study) and head after their lord. But this wasn't normal circumstances. Alucard was injured, perhaps dying, Dracula did not need anyone butting in even if they were trying to make him feel slightly better. What the mighty vampire needed right now was for the young master to awaken. But that would probably not happen for at least a couple of days. At the very least, Hector could be allowed to keep the man company.

The grey haired devil forgemaster's dark corner space was invaded by another, welcomed presence. He did not need to look up to know who was there.

"Do you think they might try to kill him?"

Blunt and to the point like always, Isaac followed Hector's line of sight to the group of generals at the bottom of the grand staircase. The disgust in their eyes had increasingly grown as Dracula faded out of sight. And as much as Hector hated to admit it, Alucard was treading a fragile enough path that one small crack might end up with him dead. He and Isaac might be the only ones who did not hold any resentment towards the young dhampir. With the others, he was feared, envied, lusted after, hated, and all other sins that came with the creatures of Castlevania. And the boy could still die, which made it easier for the others to plot for his demise.

But that is why Hector and Isaac were there. To protect Dracula, and with him, Alucard. It did not matter if the threat came from within or outside the castle walls. They would throw their lives at their masters' feet to keep them safe.

"They might. But they won't succeed. Because we're here." Hector responded.

Isaac nodded. "Mm. If anyone dares to betray Lord Dracula, then they shall be disposed off without him ever finding out."

Dracula had been long gone for quite awhile now, and yet, there was still a feralness in the night creatures' eyes. Hector could even see hints of fangs peeking out from behind parted lips.

"Why do you think they are still like that?" He asked Isaac.

"Most likely because they can still smell Young Master Alucard's blood from here."

"Does it smell disgusting?" Hector wondered that because of their faces. If it was an unpleasant odor or not.

"I think it is quite the opposite." Isaac leaned back against the wall, watching the vampires with the eyes of a predator. "It must smell rather heavenly, for all of them to quit fighting with each other. Not to mention if it smelled any way revolting, they'd most likely all flee to their chambers in an effort to get away from the smell."

"It must be that mixture between human and vampire blood that smells so good to them."

A light cloud of comfortable silence covered the two as they continued to watch as the vampires and other creatures stood and slowly wandered around the castle like usual, over whatever pleasure Alucard's scent had given them.

Soon it was just Hector and Isaac in the grand foyer, just listening to the sounds that the castle had to offer and enjoying each other's presence. They didn't know what it was they were waiting for, and they must've stood there for perhaps three quarters of an hour before they moved to leave to check up on Dracula. But they never got as far as the throne at the top of the stairs before heavy footsteps mixed with the clinking of armor flooded their ears.

Soldiers pooled out from the shadows, quickly covering the foyer like a hoard of insects. What surprised Isaac the most out of all this was not the fact that they were being invaded by an enemy. It was that instead of the soldiers wearing only one color of armor, they wore _many_ colors. _All_ the colors, in fact. Black of their own forces, white of Carmilla's, red, and yellow, and blue, and green of all the smaller vampire clans. They were all there. Pooled together in a giant mess of color.

They were the traitors.

Recently, the castle and the neighboring clans were having cases of disappearing traitors from their prisons. No one knew where they had gone. Until now of course. They had all joined up to create a large army and overthrow the vampire rulers.

Of course this was just a hunch of Isaac's, but...it could be right. His hunches always seemed to end up right in some way.

The enemy soldiers drew their swords, and with quick movements, Isaac pushed Hector behind his back, handing his grey haired companion a dagger to defend himself with.

Hector was never that strong against normal humans, against vampires he could be easily slain. It was up to Isaac to make sure that the other man did not die. Dracula could not be one devil forgemaster short. Especially in this time where the master's worries were focused on only the young master. Isaac needed to hold them off until he or Hector could get to Dracula or the other generals.

A few seconds of stillness passed, neither parties moving, until the army charged.

Freeing the spiked belt at his side, a few swipes of his arm had a vampire's throat torn out and a dagger through its heart.

The smokey dust landed in waves upon the long red carpet trailing up the left half of the grand staircase.

The other soldiers paused after seeing one of their own slain by human hands and that moment of hesitance was all that Isaac needed to turn around and usher Hector up the stairs. They needed to get to the generals. Dracula's chambers were too far away, but Isaac knew where Carmilla was at this time of day, and knowing her, she'd take charge of the other generals and have them hold off the army. Then the two forgemasters could find Dracula and tell him what had happened.

"Get them!" A soldier yelled.

Luckily for Hector and Isaac, the armor the vampires were wearing slowed them down a bit, so they, even as humans, were still ahead of them and matched with their home field advantage, and Isaac striking those who got too close with his belt, they stayed far enough ahead to lose the army.

"Where...are we going?" Hector asked in between pants.

"To the library. Carmilla should be there."

The two ran for what seemed like forever before finally reaching the large double doors of the library.

Carmilla always liked to study in here. Study the history of Castlevania. The Tepes family. The Belmonts. Anything that would give her an advantage at getting into other people heads. Isaac asked once. Carmilla gained a bit of respect from him after that tidbit of information was shared.

But right now wasn't the time for worrying about those things and dazing about the past.

Isaac shoved the doors open with a bang and the two ran inside, paying no heed to the plentiful amount of chairs they were knocking over in their journey to where Carmilla was sitting in the far corner of the library.

She looked up at them with a raised eyebrow, setting her open book onto a nearby table.

"What is so important that you dare disrupt my time alone with such a racket?"

"An enemy army has invaded the castle," Hector explained, hands upon his knees to catch his breath.

"I believe they are the traitors of our forces, among others," Isaac said.

"Traitors?"

Carmilla needed to ask. Why would traitors attempt to overthrow the most powerful vampire ever created? Shouldn't they know first hand that all that awaited them would be gruesome deaths? Shouldn't they be more concerned with their own lives? Why didn't they just disappear forever? It was rather strange to Carmilla. Your own life should come first. After you set a plan that killed off your enemies and kept you alive... _then_ you could do as you want. But whatever this army of traitors was doing now...was practically suicide.

"Yes," Isaac replied to her inquiry. "The traitors. They wear all of the colors. I do not know how they got in, but they are in."

"And what do you want me to do about this?"

"Get the other generals. Hold them off. We need to get to Dracula to alert him of the situation."

"Fine. But only because I still have stuff to do here. Any other time and I'd let you all die."

The two humans and the female vampire glared at each other for a second before Carmilla got up from her spot and they all left the library, each going in different directions.

A few minutes later, once Hector and Isaac had gotten a good way down the hall they heard the beginnings of the fight downstairs.

Who knew how long the six generals would be able to hold off the army? But Hector hoped that it was long enough for them to warn Dracula. They were about halfway to his chambers; they might make it.

Of course as soon as the grey haired forgemaster thought that, their plans and hopes were shattered roughly a dozen more traitorous soldiers stepped from the shadows, all weilding their weapon of choice.

Axes, maces, hammers, swords, daggers...they had them all. It wasn't very good odds for Hector and Isaac, two humans armed with nothing but a dagger each and Isaac's spiked belt.

They were screwed. But they fought anyway.

One of the vampires made the first move, running towards Hector with his battle ax raised overhead, but a quick, last second dodge sent him stumbling, allowing Isaac to quickly decapitate it with his belt and dagger.

 _One down...only thirteen more to go._

And during the midst of battle, neither Hector nor Isaac noticed the sudden silence that stretched out from the foyer, covering all but them in an eerie blanket. The atmosphere thickened, and all they felt was the urge that they needed to get this done quickly. Or else they'd regret it.

Whew. This turned out to be a pretty long chapter. And we got to be introduced to Isaac, Hector, and Carmilla~. I did not originally intend for any of those characters to make such an important appearance in this chapter, but oh well. I must say, it did fight me, but at the end of the day, I'm quite proud of myself and this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, feel free to leave your thoughts in a review, and I'll see you next chapter~

Bye-bye~

Majesty


	10. Chapter 9

" _March! March! March, my little puppets! Slaughter them all!"_

 _The red-headed girl sat in front of an eerie, glimmering mirror encased in bronze, grinning madly as the soldier puppets she commanded went about their invasion on Castlevania, killing all of those they came across. At one point generals came to stop them, but they lost, three having been killed -no, massacred- and the other four generals managed to escape, fleeing for their lives._

 _On one hand, their cowering was quite pleasureful, yet on the other hand, the young girl wanted to see their blood spilled on the ground, hear their screams echoing throughout the castle, taste their life's essence as it dripped steadily from their veins. She wanted to see them_ _ **dead.**_ _And Dracula would soon follow his subjects into the dark void of death._ _ **That**_ _would be the greatest pleasure._

How did Dracula not hear this sooner?! Was he so caught up in his own guilt that he turned a blind eye to the world around him? How absurd!

 _How far I have fallen... Truly pathetic._

He slammed the door, a futile effort, but it was all he could do at this moment to ward off the advancing enemies without leaving his son.

Striding quickly over to Adrian's side, Dracula hurriedly cast a sloppy protection spell. It was all he could manage with such little time on his hands, but it would keep them from harming his son. With that out of the way, he settled back in his chair, ears pricked and claws out, waiting for whoever was stupid enough to open that door, ready to protect his offspring, paternal instincts running rampant.

At first it seemed as though nobody would come, but soon enough, the soft sound of passing mist whispered ominously by Dracula's right ear and he cursed as he felt a sharp prick in his neck. Launching himself from his seat, he knew that something was wrong. His body felt off, tilting and feeling the most sluggish he'd ever felt since before Lisa. This feeling of wrong increased even more so when he turned to see who had managed to successfully sneak up on him. But all he saw was an infuriating smirk dissolving into a transparent fog before his vision started to swim and sway.

 _Damn it...the bastard must've gone through the keyhole._ This realization came quickly and went just as fast as the vampire king's mind started to waver.

When Dracula's vision started to blacken, there was only one thing left on his mind; _I must protect Adrian._ Yet even with his (slightly worn) determination running through him, the drug injected into him was stronger and all he could manage, reaching towards his son, was slumping over on the edge of the bed, hand resting heavily against Adrian's chest, hearing his heart steadily beat as he lost consciousness.

Hector and Isaac had just finished with the small group of enemies when they realized how silent the castle had become. No sounds of fighting, no cheers from the victors, no screams and cries from the injured. Nothing.

A deep knot of unease wound itself deep in the two forgemasters' guts and with a shared look they both went running towards their destination from prior the battle, faster than before despite them running low on energy because of the fight. They were practically running off of adrenaline.

Hector could hear his heartbeat thumping quickly against his rib cage as he ran, worst case scenarios twisting their way through his mind, causing his heart to beat quicker, harder.

 _I-Is Master Dracula dead...? What about the young master...? Are they being tortured as we speak...? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?!_

Hector's anxiousness and fear spread so far within him that he felt tears gather at the corners of his eyes, but he wiped them away quickly before Isaac could see. Of course, Isaac always had his ways of finding out things, even when he didn't necessarily want to.

"Why are you crying?" Isaac asked, out of breath for once, yet still retaining his calm tone of voice.

"I'm not," Hector denied. "You must've been seeing things." Perhaps if the grey haired forgemaster could convince his partner it was just the fatigue talking, he'd let it go. But of course, nothing's that easy and Isaac kept at his prodding.

"You are worried about Lord Dracula and Alucard, aren't you?"

"Someone has to be..."

Isaac's face hardened up for only a millisecond before returning back to his normal, neutral expression, and stating, "I'm worried about them, too, Hector."

"Well, you do a pretty crappy job at showing it!" The younger exclaimed.

The dark skinned forgemaster raised a questioning eyebrow at his peer. Hector rarely ever swore, and even though the one he had uttered previously wasn't that extreme, it was still strange of him to say it.

"Sorry..." the grey haired man whispered. "I'm just... _so_ worried."

"Mm. But the less we talk and the more we run, the faster we can get there."

That seemed to give the two forgemasters enough determination to run the rest of the way to Dracula's chambers. Although what they found there...killed that determination almost immediately.

A glinting needle poked out of Dracula's neck from where he was slumped over an empty, bloody bed, unconscious, but seemingly unharmed. There was no sign of a struggle.

Hector rushed over to the fallen vampire, and gently took the needle out of his neck before shaking him awake while Isaac surveyed the place where Alucard was supposed to be. Only the blood and stench of magic showed that the young master had ever been there.

"Hector...?" Dracula croaked with distant eyes.

"Yes, my lord?" The aforementioned forgemaster responded quickly.

"Where..." A voice crack. The vampire swallowed and tried again. "Where is Adrian?"

A pained expression crossed Hector's face, and even Isaac slightly flinched at the name.

"He..." Hector stuttered.

"He was not here when we arrived, Lord Dracula," Isaac finished for him, "it was just you here."

Dracula's face visibly fell along with his hopes as soon as those words left the darker man's mouth.

His child was God knows where, with people that wanted to hurt him (although, he didn't really have a right to say that he was any safer), and Adrian had already been weakened by... _the incident._ (Dracula would prefer not to label it until he heard directly from his boy's mouth about it and what it was.)

All of a sudden, his face hardened and he stood up quickly from his seat, the chair he was sitting in skidding backwards with a loud screech.

"Let us cease this dilly-dallying at once. There are more important matters to attend to that don't involve wallowing over what could've been and never will be," He announced strongly.

The two forgemasters nodded in sync and followed Dracula out of the room, their energy now fully revived for the next battles to come.


End file.
